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A review by zmull
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
4.0
So, the elephant in the room (pun intended)- yeah, Tarzan of the Apes is racist. It's built on inexcusably racist notions of genetics and race memory. It treats black characters with contempt. It treats working class white characters slightly better, but still with much disdain.
But, obviously its not just racism. People wouldn't still be reading it a hundred years later if it was just jacked up racial theorizing. The book is also full of some great action set pieces, weird hero shit like Tarzan teaching himself to read, and some truly sparkling flashes of imagination. Can a modern reader separate the racism from the wonders? I don't know, man. That debate is more than I can engage with in a Goodreads review. For me, I winced a lot but, I ended up liking it mostly.
But, obviously its not just racism. People wouldn't still be reading it a hundred years later if it was just jacked up racial theorizing. The book is also full of some great action set pieces, weird hero shit like Tarzan teaching himself to read, and some truly sparkling flashes of imagination. Can a modern reader separate the racism from the wonders? I don't know, man. That debate is more than I can engage with in a Goodreads review. For me, I winced a lot but, I ended up liking it mostly.